How much outsourcing your marketing costs: real numbers

Outsourcing your marketing costs from 300 euros a month, if you hand a single channel to a freelancer, up to more than 10,000 euros a month for a complete outsourced marketing department with several active fronts. In between sits the band where most Italian SMEs land: 1,000 to 3,000 euros a month for multichannel work with a strategy behind it.

The comparison that matters, though, is not between quotes: it is with the in-house alternative. A complete internal marketing team starts at 150,000 euros a year in company cost, and a single senior marketing manager costs around 60,000. This guide covers the items that make up the real cost of outsourcing, the models compared, the price bands by level of ambition and the cases where outsourcing is the wrong call.

The four items that make up the real cost

The supplier fee is only the first item, and it is the only one written in the quote. The second is the advertising budget: when a supplier asks for 1,500 euros a month, that money pays for their work, not for the campaigns; whatever you invest on Meta or Google comes on top. The third item is your team's time: briefings, revisions, approvals, materials to dig up. It is the item nobody budgets for, and the one that most often turns a convenient quote into a full cost. The fourth is tools and licenses: CRM, email marketing platforms, analytics tools, which almost always stay on you.

The three models compared

An in-house team gives you control and daily presence, but it is the most rigid model: from 150,000 euros a year for a real squad, and every missing competency is one more hire. An agency works on retainer, from 300 to 6,000 euros a month depending on the band: you pay for a structure, with its strengths and its markups. An on-demand team assembles senior specialists only on active fronts: when a front closes, you stop paying for it. It is the most flexible model on costs, provided someone keeps direction.

The full comparison between the models, with the advantages and risks of each, is in our guide to outsourcing your marketing.

What it costs by level of ambition

One channel, presence as the goal. Social or content run by a freelancer or a micro-agency: 300 to 1,000 euros a month. It works if you need continuity, not growth.

Several channels with a strategy. Content, social and coordinated campaigns: 1,000 to 3,000 euros a month. This is the band for most SMEs that mean it.

An external marketing department. Strategy, production, advertising, analytics and coordination across several fronts: from 3,000 to over 10,000 euros a month depending on the active fronts. At this level the right question is not how much it costs, but who keeps direction.

The cost you do not see in the quote

Whatever model you choose, part of the cost stays in-house: someone has to run briefings, answer questions, approve materials, share the numbers. If nobody has that time, the supplier works blind and the results show it. Before signing, decide who the internal point of contact will be and how many hours a week they can commit. The other hidden items, from onboarding costs to out-of-scope revisions, are covered in how much a communication agency costs.

When outsourcing is NOT worth it

Outsourcing is the wrong call in at least three cases. If nobody in the company can dedicate even two hours a week to the supplier: without an internal point of contact even the best external team produces off-target materials. If the product is not stable yet: marketing amplifies what is there, it does not fix it. And if you are outsourcing to avoid deciding: execution can be delegated, direction cannot.

The mistakes that inflate the bill

The first mistake is buying from a catalogue: predefined packages of posts and hours that do not start from your goals. The second is changing supplier every six months: every change restarts from zero on briefs, access and product knowledge, and you pay for that restart. The third is looking only at the fee: a supplier that costs 20% more but does not make you lose weeks in revisions is almost always cheaper. The fourth is not writing down the scope: when the contract does not say what is included, every month becomes a negotiation, and the seller has more experience than the buyer.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to be followed by a marketing agency?

From 300 to 6,000 euros a month in retainer depending on the band: one channel in the entry band, multichannel with strategy in the middle one, a full team on several channels in the top one. Ad budget is always excluded.

How much does a social media manager charge?

A freelancer managing one or two social channels generally sits in the 300 to 1,000 euros a month band, depending on seniority, production volumes and whether advertising is included.

What marketing costs should I account for?

Four items: the fee of whoever does the work (internal or external), the advertising budget, tools and licenses, and your team's time. The first three show up on invoices, the fourth does not, but it exists.

Is an agency or a freelancer more convenient?

It depends on how many fronts you have active and who keeps direction. The honest comparison between the two models, with the third way of the on-demand team, is in agency or freelancers.

Between hiring an internal department and relying on an agency there is a third way: an on-demand team of senior specialists, assembled on the fronts you actually need and scaled down when a front closes. That is the Really Hub model: if you want to figure out where to start, the guide to outsourcing your marketing is the first step.